THE
LOGIC OF VEGETARIANISM
GEOFREY L. RUDD(Secretary the Vegetarian Society-Editor of World Forum)

Physiology
It is only with very great diffidence that we write a vegetarian message
to India, which has millions of vegetarians, but it is hoped that the
following thoughts will be of interest, if only to show how we are tackling
the problem in Britain.

Physically we belong to the animal kingdom. Whatever we may think about
ourselves spiritually the fact remains that we function in an animal
body and there is very little difference between ourselves and the anthropoids
- the main distinction is spiritual with greater powers of reasoning
through a more highly developed brain mechanism.

Darwin, Baron Cuvier, Sir Charles Bell and others have testified to
this assertion. W. E. le Gros Clarke, Professor of Anatomy at Oxford
University, states in his History of The Primates : "Man shows
such remarkable resemblances to the lower animals that it now seems
astonishing to us that his kinship with them should ever have been seriously
controverted. His skull and skeleton are composed of the same bony elements
his muscular system is made up of identical muscles disposed in the
same general pattern, his heart and blood-vessels are constructed on
exactly the same plan, and even his brain (though more elaborate) is
made of the same basic elements. Anatomically, therefore, Man is simply
one of the animals.

There is nothing to be ashamed of in this. We should be glad for scientific
proof of the unity of life and that we find ourselves at the apex of
development.

Our remote ancestors are said to have been ape-like creatures, hairy
and savage, living in caves and almost entirely on flesh. But very recent
discoveries show that Neanderthal Man was preceded by beings more similar
to ourselves with an almost equal brain capacity. This fact is revealed
by the finding of the much earlier Swanscombe Man in the Thames Valley,
and is a fragmentary evidence that the flesh-eating Man may have been
a temporary descent inhuman evolution and not a natural evolutionary
stage. There is no real evidence that Man has evolved from apes. It
is more likely that we have always belonged to a distinct stream of
evolutionary development.

A descent to flesh eating could quite easily have been caused by the
Ice Ages which devastated all vegetation and compelled the few survivors
to turn cannibal and carnivorous in order to exist. It is very significant
that in India, which was not touched by the later glacial periods, vegetarianism
has survived throughout know history - flesh-eating being probably introduced
by Northern barbarians escaping the arctic conditions, or being the
end product of degeneration.

If, as is still supposed in scientific circles, we had evolved from
a truly carnivorous species we should still have the anatomical make-up
of a carnivore, because insufficient time has elapsed for so drastic
a structural change to have taken place. There can be no doubt whatsoever
that, from time to time immemorial, Man has evolved as a frugivorous
creature - the physiological differences between the carnivora and frugivora
are so vast and distinctive that no biologist or anatomist could truthfully
state otherwise.

The following facts cannot be changed:

We belong to the Order of Mammalia, i.e., we are creatues whose mothers
suckle their young with milk, a peculiarity we share with horses, monkeys,
whales, cows and sheep among others.

This Order is subdivided into four main groups - the Carnivora and
Omnivora (flesh-eaters) which are more nearly akin in habit and structure;
and the Herbivora and Frugivora (vegetarian) which share some distinctions.
It should be borne in mind that an animal is not classed by observing
its eating habits, which may be temporarily unnatural, but by its anatomy
- biologists may, to further their own flesh-eating habits, deny this,
but their text books state otherwise

The Carnivora:

All have a relatively short bowel to enable rapidly decomposing
substances to be ejected quickly before toxic materials have time
to poison the blodstream through absorption.

Have long sabre-like teeth and sharp retractable claws specially
adapted for killing and holding down living prey.

Have jaws which only open and shut in an upward and downward motion.

Do not sweat through the skin. Excess moisture is excreted through
the bladder.

Body temperature is controlled by the rate of breathing and extruding
the tongue.

Their saliva does not pre-digest starches, being minus ptyalin.

They secrete about ten times more hydrochloric acid in their digestive
systems than vegetarian creatures - sufficient to dissolve bones eaten
with meat.

They lap water with their tongues, like a cat.

In marked contrast, Frugivora :

Have very long bowels by comparison, because their natural food
gives up its nutrients slowly, and not being bacterially poisonous
do not cause auto-intoxication. Incidentally, foods which give up
their energy slowly, give stamina, and are not stimulants, like meat.

Are not equipped to kill living prey there are very few meat animals
a man could catch and kill with his bare hands. Instruments are necessary.

Their jaws not only open and shut but have a lateral motion for
chewing, salivating, and the partial digestion of starches with the
ferment, ptyalin.

They sweat through the skin - like horses and human beings.

Body heat is controlled by the opening and closing of the pores
and by the excretion of sweat.

Teeth are of a distinct shape and have a different enamel. Raw
flesh can only be eaten with great difficulty and human beings usually
take it partly cremated.

Liquids are taken by suction through the teeth, not by lapping.

These, then, are some of the main characteristics of flesh-eaters and
vegetarians - under no circumstances could Man be mistaken for a carnivore.
The fact that a proportion of Mankind has, from time to time
tried to turn omnivorous in habit does does not mean that he
has been successful or that he is omnivorous from an anatomical point
of view. He is a Frugivore.

In Britain, with a population of about 50,000,000 people we spend £600,000,000
annually trying to bolster up the crumbling health of the nation. Flesh-eating
nations have the biggest incidence of cancer and other diseases of degeneration.
The figures are the measure of the success of omnivorism and orthodox
medical practices - most of the money goes to drug manufacturers, doctors,
and surgeons. Nearly 300,000,000 medical prescriptions are sold yearly
by 13,000 chemists This should be contrasted with the perfect health
of the vegetarian Hunzas who have no "civilized" diseases.

There is every justification, on physiological grounds alone, for assuming
that the further we get away from fruit, nuts, whole grains and succulent
leafy vegetables, the less likely we are to be healthy. The practice
of vegetarianism shows that the body responds favourably and immediately
to the restoration of a natural diet. Nature Cure is relatively new
in the West but your healers have practised it for ages, and this is
one of the valuable things you can teach us.

Prior to the Ice Ages we must have evolved for millions of years on
a vegetarian diet and experience over the last hundred years or so shows
that even in Northern countries the return to it is remedial and a guard
against ill-health. In a land with plenty of sunshine, a food in itself,
vegetarianism is easier and has produced some of the finest physical
specimens found anywhere - to say nothing of unsurpassed intellectuals.

BASIC ALLOWANCES

Moderately Active

Calories

Protein

Calcium

Iron

Vit.A

Vit.B

Riboflavin

Nic. Acid

Vit.C

Man

3000

82g

.8g

12mg

6000iu

1.0

1.5mg

10mg

30mg

Woman

2500

69g

.8g

12mg

5000iu

1.0

1.5mg

10mg

30mg

Child 4-6

1600

56g

1.0g

8mg

3000iu

.6

1.0mg

6mg

15mg

Boy 13-15

3150

110g

1.4g

15mg

3000iu

1.3

1.0mg

13mg

30mg

Girl 13-15

2750

95g

1.3g

15mg

3000iu

1.1

1.6mg

11mg

30mg

Nutritive allowances suggested by the British Medical
Association - based on the requirements of flesh-eaters whose diet
inhibits absorption of a proportion of elements needed. A vegetarian
can manage with considerably less.

FOOD VALUES

ONE OUNCE

Calories

Protein

Calcium

Iron

Vit.A

Vit.B

Ribo

Nic.

Vit.C

Brown Bread

69

2.5g

31mg

.6mg

-

.07mg

.03mg

.9mg

-

Butter

211

.1g

4mg

trace

850iu

-

-

-

-

Cheese

117

7.1g

230mg

.2mg

369iu

.01mg

.14mg

.1mg

-

Margarine

218

-

1mg

.1mg

850iu

-

-

-

-

Cabbage (raw)

7

.4g

18mg

.3mg

255iu

.02mg

.02mg

.1mg

20mg

Carrot (raw)

6

.2g

14mg

.2mg

5179iu

.02mg

.01mg

.2mg

3mg

Lentil

81

6.7g

11mg

2.2mg

14iu

.13mg

.02mg

.1mg

20mg

Lettuce

3

.3g

7mg

.2mg

1131iu

.02mg

.02mg

.1mg

4mg

Apple

12

.1g

1mg

.1mg

11iu

.01mg

-

.1mg

1mg

Figs Dried

58

1.0g

81mg

1.2mg

26iu

-

.08mg

.5mg

-

Prunes

44

.7g

11mg

.8mg

709iu

-

.04mg

.6mg

-

Raisins

67

.3g

17mg

.5mg

14iu

-

.01mg

.1mg

-

Almonds

164

5.8g

70mg

1.2mg

-

.07mg

.05mg

.4mg

-

Soya Flour

121

11.5g

62mg

2.0mg

-

.19mg

.04mg

1.0mg

-

Figures showing values of a few articles of food -
from H.M.S.O. "Nutritive Values of Wartime Foods."

When a Vegetarian Eats Flesh

It is very easy to overlook the real reasons for eating. These are
simple:

To promote the development of the human mechanism when we are young.

To supply fuel for energy

To maintain the physical structure, bones, tissues, organs, and
bloodstream at the peak of effifiency.

If we eat too little we suffer from deficiency diseases; too much overburdens
the organs of elimination and leads to toxication and the diversion
of energy from normal functioning; materials eaten which are not nutritive
tent ro be irritants and set up abnormalities like cancer and other
diseases.

It is therefore, a matter of intelligence to choose those foods which
fulfil normal requirements efficently, economically, and preferably
without causing interference with other forms of sentient life. The
diet of a frugivore does not destroy life - the fruits, nuts and grains
are produced in nature far in excess of the needs of reproduction and
the plant is not killed.

When a true vegetarian turns to flesh-eating the following things happen:

1. The type of intestinal flora is changed from fermentative to putrefactive
bacteria, yet the long bowel is retained which is specially adapated
for the former. Poison elements are therefore absorbed into the bloodstream
to the detriment of health.

2. In a vegetarian animal Vitamin B12 is mostly synthesized during
digestive processes, though some is found in plant foods. Meat toxins
inhibit this natural development and cause anaemia. They also tend to
pervert the metabolism of carbohydrates and cause diabetes.

3. Although we do not deny that some second-hand protein may be obtained
from flesh it comes to us with other substances, which under no circumstances
can be called nutritive.

The toxic wastes of spent energy from the animal's bloodstream.

Fear poisons released in the animal's bloodstream immediately before
slaughter: (this is nature's way of guarding against the effects of
shock and pain).

As soon as an animal dies putrefactive decomposition commences
with the bacterial organisms prolificating every 15 minutes, or quicker.
Over 90 per cent of cases of food poisoning are caused by these germs,
many of these are not destroyed in cooking processes and those which
are leave their toxic bodies behind. Over 50 per cent of beef is germ-laden
water.

Domesticated animals suffer from a long list of diseases through
unnatural living, forced feeding causing fatty degeneration of all
organs, endocrine interference by castration, exploitation of sex
functions, and rapid breeding.

These include contagious abortion, swine fever, foot and mouth disease,
cancer, tuberculosis, mastitis, general catarrhal conditions, etc, In
Britain up to 60 percent of carcasses are sometimes condemned from a
very cursory examination and many diseases cannot be detected except
by a careful post mortem.

4. The presence of greasy animal fats lining the human gut tends to
inhibit calcium intake, and although calcium is present in appreciable
quantities in most foddstuffs, calcium deficiency is widespread - leading
to faulty bones, teeth and general inefficiency.

5. Animal fats also contain cholesterol which is now known to be the
chief cause of coronary diseases of the heart - which are increasing
among "civilized" people.

We think the foregoing facts make it clear that flesh-foods are not
a good source of protein, the main item for which flesh is eaten. The
terms first and second class protein, we read in The Extra Pharmacopoeia
(the leading medical authority), came into being during the first World
War and were based on "incomplete analyses of pure protein and
on inadequate experiments on rats... the terms have now become meaningless
and should be discarded."

Furthermore, amino acids, which are the componets of protein, can be
changed during digestion from one kind to another. So the quasi-scientific
argument sometimes put forward that a vegetarian diet might not provide
the right kinds of amino acids has no foundation. Creatures of great
strength and endurance obtain all their nourishment from a few simple
herbs and leaves.

So here again we find that ordinary commonsense should lead us to either
become or remain vegetarian.

NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS &
SOURCES

Proteins - amino acids

Proteins are complex substances conitaining anything up to 20 amino
acids. They are needcd for growth and the maintenance of tissues. It
is sometimes argued by flesh-eaters that the best source of protein
is meat, because it is already in a form suitable for human requirements.
To which we answer that the most perfect form is human flesh - why not
eat that. This immediately shows that there is a moral question
in our choice of food and me are then only confronted with the problem
of where we draw the line.

Tho primary source of protoins, and all nutritional material. is in
the vegetable kingdom. Whole grains, nuts, beans, peas, (eggs and cheese),
are better sources of protein than meat. Not only weight for weight
but have none of the disadvantages previously listed.

Proteins are greatly affected by heat cooking but excess tends to alter
their natural structure and affects general availability. Cooking, of
course, denatures and devitalizes all foodstuffs. About 2 1/2 to 3 ozs.
is the maximum daily need from all sources for Europeans. Growing children
and athletes need only slightly more than active adults.

Carbohydrates (starches and sugars)

Meat as a source of carbohydrates is negligible. The difficulty is
to avoid their excess use, not to find them. They are found in grains
and food products made with them; in fruit and vegetable.

Most plants store their reserves of food in the form of starch, which
is a chemical combination of glucose units. In cereals it remains as
starch but the process of ripening in the sun turns fruit starches into
sugar. We tend to get too much starch because we cook grains-plants
store it in little waterproof capsules which, if eaten raw, would resist
complete digestion. The process of excessive cooking bursts these capsules
and releases all the starch.

All sweet fruits, from apples to raisins, are good sources, so are honey,
cane and tree sugars. There are five principal kinds: glucose,
from plants; fructose, from plants and honey; sucrose,
from cane, beets, carrots, melons and sweet fruits; lactose,
from human and animal milk; maltose, which is formed during grain
germination and fermentative processes.

Refined white sugar should be avoided as it is pure carbohydrate, without
its balancing minerals and vitamins; and while being a quick source
of energy in an emergency is merely catarrh-forming in continual use.
Extra energy calls for extra carbohydrates, not protein. Recent experiments
with American athletes show that better results are achieved with a
low protein diet.

Fats - energy reserves

All the necessary fats and oils are readily available in a vegetarian
diet from nuts of all kinds, many fruits like olives, an infinite variety
of seeds from which most of our modern cooking fats are made. Milk and
its products are also good sources if used. It may be appropriate to
state here that dairy producc is not considered to be ideal - but at
least it is a progressive step away from ages of flesh-eating and its
use does away with most of the exploitation connected with meat-eating.

Vegetable fats do not contain cholesterol and do not, therefore, cause
heart diseases.

The main purpose of cating fats is to store up reserves of energy in
the body. Only small quantities are required daily - an excess can quite
easily lead to a comatose condition, and slow down the absorption of
other nutrients. Greasy meat fats always have this effect, thus affecting
digestion and the ability to think.

Minerals and elements

Flesh-foods are a very poor source of essential minerals and generally
speaking the close association of vitamins is necessary for the proper
metabolism to take place.

Minerals maintain the alkalinity of the blood, help in metabolic processes,
and form a basis for the physical structure - bones, teeth, organs and
tissues. Deficiencies soon show in symptoms of degeneration. The main
sources are found in the vegetable kingdom and in dairy produce (secondhand).

All play their various parts in structural maintenance, growth, nervous
and mental activity. They are found in a natural balance in fruit, nuts,
whole grains, seeds, vegetables, and legumes.

Vitamins

The primary source of all vitamins is the vegetable kingdom. Doctors
tell us that the richest source of vitamin A is liver. But we also have
livers which are a rich storehouse for vitamin A if, like the creatures
in question, we have the intelligence to eat the right foods, The liver
of any animal is its own property and was not meant for human use.

Heavy supplementary doses of any vitamin are mostly wasted because
the body only uses what is necessary in conjunction with available minerals
- all vegetable foods present minerals and vitamins in the balance desirable
for animal and human use.

The list of vitamins is far too long to be dealt with here. The vitamins
not found in vegetation are either synthesized in the gut or produced
by photosynthesis by the sun's action on the skin. Meat toxins are known
to inhibit some microbial processes which provide us with certain vitamins.
Vitamins, like minerals, are closely connected with all biological functions
and are essential for health. Slight and persistent deficiencies cause
very distressing illnesses. Plenty of fresh raw foods, all kinds, are
necessary for adequate supplies - not flesh foods.

Even this brief survey of nutrients shows that meat is not a good source
of food and that killing is quite unnecessary for adequate nutrition.

ECONOMICS OF DIET

Since 250,000,000 Indians are dependent on agricultural pursuits for
their livelihood, the economics of food production are of extreme importance.
India imports about £115,000,000 worth of grains, pulses and flour
a year - all of which she could grow herself much cheaper and even export.

Recent announcement by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the
United Nations, and other authorities, indicate that about 70 per cent
of the world population is ill-fed at the present time. At least 100,000,000
extra people will have to be fed in about two years' time with an ever
increasing ratio.

The world population to-day is about 2,500,000,000. By the end of the
century it may be about 5,000,000,000. What then?

Some territories can be developed for increased food production, but
this is not so easy in practice as it is in theory, as witness the failure
to convert thousands of acres of African territory to groundnut production.
The area of the earth's surface which is capable of yielding food suitable
for human consumption is strictly limited and encroaching living space
will eat into a larger proportion of whatever is claimed. In Britain
alone we are losing 50,000 acres of agricultural land per year through
building developmcnt-houses, schools, industrial plants, etc.

At tlie prescnt time tho situation is: rapidly increasing populations
and decreasing fertile land. Fertility is also decreasing through the
indiscriminate use of artificial fertilizers, which may give an increased
yield lor a few Years but lead to a loss of fertility and soil erosion.

It is estimated that there is about ONE acre of fertile land per person
in the world available for food production of all kinds.

A flesh eater needs 1.63 acres.

A vegetarian needs .5 or .6 acres.

(in a country of low productivity these figures would be slightly higher).

Of the 1.63 acres required by a flesh-eater 1.3 acres are needed solely
to provide flesh foods. The smaller area needed for the vegetarian includes
a certain amount of dairy produce.

So we see that anyone insisting on flesh foods is taking more than
his fair share of the land available and is, in fact, condemning some
of his fellowmen to a starvation diet. There is a moral even in economics.

COMPARATIVE FOOD VALUES

%

%

%

%

%

Foodstuff

Water

Protein

Fat

Carbo.

Calor.

Sirloin

59

10

23

-

271

Steak

65

17

16

-

212

Mutton

64

16

19

-

235

Cheese

37

25

34

-

410

Peanuts

4

28

49

7.7

584

Brazils

8

14

61

3.7

624

Almonds

5

20

53

3.9

579

Lentils

6

29

-

48.0

287

Soya

7

40

23

13.3

426

These figures, from H.M.S.O. sources, show
that flesh-foods are an inferior source of nutrition
weight for weight. and most of the cost goes in
buying dirty water.

COMPARATIVE COSTS PER TON

Beef

£l33

Wheat

£31

Mutton

£324

Oats

£26

Pork and Bacon

£303

Rye

£24

The above prices were guaranteed to farmers by
the British Government in 1955. The food value
is inverse ratio.

It is sometinies overlooked that an animal epecially bred for its flesh
needs a much bigger area of land for its food than a human being. Wages
are paid to men to act as nurses and midwives to cattle so in total
the unseen cost of meat is colossal. India maintains a cattle population
of 150,000,000, the biggest in the world.

Meat is especially dear when it is considered that the land/time which
will produce one ton of beef will yield 10 or 20 tons of highly nutritive
vegetarian food suitable for direct consumption by human beings.

The situation from a world viewpoint is not yet desperate (only to
those who are starving). But we can well imagine the confusion, famine
and disease iri a few year's time unless national governments make a
logical effort to tackle the problem and accept the obvious conclusion
that a vegetarian diet is inevitable.

There is already competition between animals and human beings for land.
This will be rapidly intensified and the only solution will be to reduce
the breeding of the unnaturally blown up cattle population. We agree
that cattle have a right to live and space in which to live, but man
tampers with natural breeding and perpetuates forms which may well have
served their evolutionary purpose.

Here again the importance of vegetarian societies, with their specialized
knowledge and experience, is emphasized. They could act as advisory
bodies to local governments and help to educate the people to appreciate
that vegetarianism is not something to be feared, but to be welcomed
for its hygiene, economy, and promise of better health for themselves
and further generations.

In Britain we have a "Committee of Vegetarian Interests "
: a Government liaison body drawn from the two big National Vegetarian
Societies, food manufacturers, Health Food stores and catering associations.

A recent report on Meat Marketing from the Indian Ministry of Food
and Agriculture states that the annual value of meats and edible offals
is over 100 crores of rupees and that "Meat is vitally important
to the Indian population because their diet is deficient in first
class proteins and these could easily be obtained from meat."

The world's foremost medical authority has demolished this unscientific
supposition which is being used the world over. A supposition from discredited
and inadequate experiments on rats performed more than thirty years
ago. If reliance is placed on experiments on rats we recommend those
made by Sir Robert McCarrison, who fed two large colonies of them on
the vegetarian food of the Hunzas and the typical food of the English.
The Hunza fed rats thrived, multiplied, had no illnesses and were good
natured. Those fed on the English diet acquired every disease of civilization
including rheumstism, cancer, and turned cannibal. They had miscarriages
and could not breastfeed their young.

The report also states that there is considerable agitation, in a section
of the population (all honour to it) for a complete ban on the slaughter
of cattle in India. May we point out that the purpose of a democratic
government is to represent the wishes of the people.

"The problem," it goes on to say, "requires to be viewed
from a practical economic angle." We are in complete agreement
here, but with respect suggest that the proposed increased breeding
of improved livestock is doomed to failure before it begins, for the
reasons me have already set out.

To emphasize the vegetarian viewpoint, the Ministry admits that India
is already "deplorably deficient" in animal feeding
stuffs.

It states that the 14 millions of unproductive cattle (a small proportion)
eat 8 lbs. per head per day, consume millions of tons of fodder costing
Rs. 102.2 crores annually. We leave the reader to work out how much
the other 136 millions of cattle, which eat more expensive foods (and
probably 80 lbs. per day), and require more attention, will cost; and
where the extra foodstuffs are to be obtained - the only answer would
be highly expensive imports. The same amount of money could be spent
to obtain over twenty times more food for direct human consumption.
For every 100lbs. of dry substances eaten by cattle only 4lbs. comes
back as meat food - of doubtful value.

A further statement is "Meat has not yet received sufficient recognition
as an important food item and has hitherto been regarded as a luxury
for the town dweller, The nutritional importance of meat is also practically
unknown."

This is very true, but not in the sense intended - the nutritional
value of meat has been fully exposed.

We understand the Central Food Technological Institute at Mysore, is
chargcd with trying to justify the Indian Ministry's recommendations.
We trust the investigations will be unbiased, as befits a scientific
institution of excellent reputation, and that full weight will be given
to the latest scientific knowledge, as herein surveyed. It is apparent
that a programme is being launched based on insufficient and inaccurate
information, together with a disregard for conditions in the near future.

Before leaving the subject of economics it should be stated that the
present day drive for artificial fertilisers is fraught with danger.
There is no objection to moving natural rock sediments from one place
to another where there is a marked efficiency, but harsh chemicals from
commercial laboratories not only tend to produce quickly grown plants
which have not had time to draw up their proper quota of essential trace
elements, but kill soil bacteria and worms which are associated with
healthy growth. Disease-prone crops are produced and this in turn leads
to the use of poisonous pesticides which remain in the plants until
they are eaten -- a vicious circle.

Cornposting as evolved and practised on a commercial scale at Indore
should play its part in agriculture development - the chief part.

To prove the truth and efficacy of organic composting methods The
Soil Association at Haughley, in England, is already well advanced
with long term experiments on a scientifically controlled basis. Already
evidence is coming forward that the organically nurtured crops have
a higher feeding value, that the land is increasing in fertility, while
the mixed section is decreasing ; and that the dairy herds on the organic
section consistently yield more milk and have a better breeding record.
There is also some evidence of a higher vitamin and trace element content
in the crops.

A recent Australian expert from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organization claims that much of the Australian wheat belt
may be undergoing a decline of unexpected seriousness because the use
of superphosphates has depleted the nitrogen content of the soil - the
first step towards erosion.

Foods produced with forcing chemicals, treated with poisonous insecticides,
then contaminated by preservatives, colouring matter, deodorants, anti-staling
agents, improvers, and so on, must inevitably lead to ill-health and
disease.

HUMANE & AESTHETIC CONSIDERATIONS

The use of flesh-foods means the sacrifice of life in extremely unpleasant
circumstances. It means that a creature is strangled, bludgeoned to
death, or has its throat cut while fully conscious. What follows is
equally revolting - bloodletting, skinning, disembowelling and dissecting.
In modern abattoirs the whole process is done while the animal is still
warm and hardly through its death throes.

Let no one say that an animal has no premonition of death or that the
stench of blood does not fill it with terror. Animals have to be beaten
quite savagely in order to get them into abattoirs. (The word abattoir
comes from the French, abatre, to beat down,)

No sensitive person, with any compassion or feeling, could possibly
share the complicity, let alone do the killing, or endure the agonized
cries of victims. It means that callousness is perpetuated in those
who, for reasons best known to themselves follow the trade of slaughterer
and butcher. In other words the flesheater lets someone else do his
dirty work and keeps his conscience at bay by resolutely putting the
bestiality from his mind.

It has been estimated that 200,000,000 cattle, including horses, are
slaughtered every year - 400,000,000 sheep, 200,000,000 pigs, innumerable
birds and rabbits - the hideous slaughter is stupendous and only a relatively
small proportion of the creatures have the doubtful benefit of "humane"
methods. As the sun rises on each country of the globe a belt of slaughter
moves round creating a hell on earth for our less fortunate brethren.

There are also about 20,000,000 vivisection experiments, designed largely
to offset the effects of wrong living - chiefly flesh-eating - for people
do not want to give up their established ways of life and therefore
seek easy panaceas to take the place of self-discipline.

Compared with vegetarian cookery the preparation of decomposing flesh
is offensive and a butcher's shop has the stench of a charnel house,
for that is what it is.

The dead body of an animal belongs to the forest floor where it returns
the elements it borrowed and renews fertility. To turn the humnn stomach
into an animal cemetery is, to say the least, a very peculiar choice.

ETHICAL ASPECTS

It should be stated that vegetarianism was established in both the
East and the West for ethical reasons. It was based on the recognition
of the sacredness of life and that we have no right to kill. The pioneers
in England in the 1840's were not even certain that vegetarianism would
be practical in our climate but they were sure in their hearts that
the taking of life was immoral. As so frequentIy happens, what was right
in principle proved to be right in practice.

Scientific knowledge and medical testimony came much later, and although
the health side may have tended to obscure the essential ethical basis
of vegetaranism, the moral argument is still the more powerful - and
unanswerable.

We each have to decirle for ourselves what we consider to be the purpose
of life. Is it for the indulgence of selfish desires or for spiritual
development ? Is life merely a freak of chance with no purpose?

Those of us who think the world is a playground, a venue for the enjoyment
of animal appetites, and an unpremeditated chaos, will not be concerned
with the problem of behaviour. But for those who think there is a possibility
that life is a medium for soul growth, behaviour is extremely important
; for we are exactly as we act. No more no less.

If we behave brutally or selfishly, then we are brutes and selfish.
No religious label or outward facade alters the truth.

As the highest development of creature life on this earth, with more
brain power and inventiveness than lesser beings, we can either use
our poser to destroy or to cherish and guard. It is a personal choice
we each have to make and one which pins us accurately and inlpartially.

We must ask ourselves if killing another being before its life cycle
is complete is to that creatures benefit. "In happiness and suffering
in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as ire regard ourselves,
and should therefore refrain from inflicting upon others such as would
appear undesirable to us if inflicted upon ourselves," says the
Yogashastra, and is echoed down tlie ages by the Masters.

It may be true that until a certain stage in conscious evolution is
reached moral considerations are not important, and that behaviour is
govcrnecl by instinct. All of us, however, are constantly faced by a
series of moral choices - every hour of the day. The chain reactions
of each decision shape our future (our own and other people's). You
call the results karma.

Let us consider the moulding of forces of flesh-eating, bearing in
mind that the only kind of immorality there is lies in making a bad
choice deliberately :-

The selfish destruction of a highly sensitive creature, quite unnecessarily
for food gives pain and causes suffering and fear. It robs it of the
opportunity to fulfil its purpose in life. At the same time we are
very careful to avoid pain and premature death ourselves-why?

Killing has no cultural value. To the contrary it breeds callousness.
sadism and irreverence for life.

Killing unnecessarily for food is a manifestation of either a complete
lack of thought or selfish greed and a depraved taste-how else may
we explain the lust for flesh?

Meat toxins poison the human bloodstream, All human organs need
a pure clean bloodstream for the peak of efficiency. The brain is
the organ through which we control our bodies and is particularly
sensitive to poisons - the power to think clearly is therefore affected,
and consequently, the ability to make moral choices. Alcohol we know
interferes with the eyesight and ability to think, and makes car drivers
accident-prone-meat is kind of stimulant and has a simar though less
powerful effect.

Compassion and understanding are qualities of full manhood and
womanhood - they are not of weakness. Such qualities cannot develop
by allowing the opposites to take possession. flesh-foods also veil
the intuition.

Since flesh-eating is disease proroking it gives rise to a parallel
increase in suppressive medicine, drugs. surgery, and vivisection.
These are negative forces bent on finding ways of short-circuiting
the effects of wrong living without the necessity of self-discipline.

By causing starvation over large areas flesh-eating becomes a potent
factor in war causation. Paradoxically malnutrition means an increasing
birthrate, this being nature's way of trying to ensure the persistence
of life - again a vicious circle.

Can any one in their right minds consider that flesh eating is even
"The Middle Way" or a step towards Nirvana?

"Ponder it well in your mind and then act as it seems best to
you," says Krishna, in the Bhagavat Gita. (World Forum)